District Seven Supervisor Candidates List Top Priorities If Elected

To have a clear understanding of their campaign platforms, The Light asked all five District Seven supervisor candidates to submit a list of their top 10 priorities if elected.

Joel Engardio

Work to increase the capacity of the Behavioral Health Court so we can give more mentally ill homeless people the treatment they need to get off the streets, stay out of jail and succeed in job and housing programs.

Champion the launch of the M-line tunnel project so we can double rider capacity (four-car instead of two-car trains) and shorten commute time from Park Merced to Embarcadero in a true end-to-end subway. The tunnel will also relieve traffic congestion on 19th Avenue and St. Francis Circle.

Preserve neighborhoods of single-family homes while helping families stay in San Francisco with a focus on new middle-income housing. With community input, we can build a few stories of housing for families and seniors above retail along Muni lines (only on the street where Muni runs, not in the neighborhoods). The new residents will create demand for more amenities and better retail that everyone can benefit from. Seniors looking to downsize can consider an elevator building nearby and stay in the neighborhood they call home.

Focus on taming our $9.6 billion city budget (which has doubled the past decade) because homeowners are not City Hall’s ATM. We need to investigate how our money is being spent, measure for results and only pay for what works. That means reviewing all of our non-profit contracts and cutting redundancies. We have too many city employees (nearly 30,000) with unfunded liabilities in the billions that will only balloon in time. We need to save more in our rainy day fund while the economy is good so we are better prepared for the next downturn. We also should reduce city positions through more efficiency while times are good, so it can be done smartly and not in reaction to a fiscal crisis.

Advocate for implementation of the recommendations in this year’s Civil Grand Jury report on the rise in crime and car break-ins. The report called for more coordination between branches of law enforcement and special attention to the tactics needed to fight gang-related crime.

John Farrell

Build strong communication with commercial merchants and neighborhood organizations to ensure their concerns are met.

In regard to crime, build a stronger relationship between police and residents via community forums, neighborhood watch groups, businesses and schools. Utilize existing programs to support police and provide them with the equipment and training needed to do their job.

Direct the city’s budget analyst to perform a zero-based budget.

Identity at least $100 million in new revenue, hold city departments accountable and cut waste, which I have a track record of doing.

Expedite the process on High Injury Corridors. I support Vision Zero.

I will have an open door policy. Reply to all inquiries in a timely manner.

Oppose the Natural Areas Plan.

Work closely with Animal Care and Control to ensure coyote situation is addressed.

Address our homeless on the streets and help them get the assistance they need, especially those with mental and drug issues.

Ben Matranga

Focus on public safety by hiring more police officers to meet the demands of our growing city.

Ensure fiscal discipline by supporting regular audits of every city department on a rotating schedule, based on relative risk to the city and taxpayers. I will use my experience in finance to root out waste, fraud and abuse to ensure that vital city services are funded.

Improve quality of life by demanding accountability from city departments to ensure that streets and facilities in our district get the resources they need.

Preserve neighborhood character by requiring, as a matter of law, that the Planning Department inform neighborhood organizations before introducing significant rezoning proposals.

Strengthen city ethics laws by banning lobbyists from making campaign contributions.

Track quality of life complaints received in the supervisor’s office and actually work directly with neighbors and city agencies to get them fixed.

Work with the Ocean Avenue Association and neighborhood groups to ensure funded projects are implemented.

Expand neighborhood commercial corridor activation projects such as Second Sundays.

Work with small businesses to cut red tape and ensure merchants are able to access city services.

Ensure that both the annual budget and capital plan includes robust neighborhood input and priorities.

Norman Yee

Tackle property crime by creating San Francisco Police Department Neighborhood Property Crime Units in each of our three police stations that serves District Seven and increase the number of police officers serving District Seven by 15.

Continue to improve our parks fully funding and completing the renovation of West Portal Playground and then Golden Gate Heights.

Expand services for seniors by creating new programs at Parkmerced and in the Inner Sunset.

Keep safeguarding West Side values by tirelessly fighting against a planning department that doesn’t respect our neighborhoods.

Create more affordable housing for San Francisco’s low- and middle-income families by supporting projects in District Seven that is balanced and well vetted by the residents as well as aggressively pushing for first time homeowners opportunities and loan programs.

Support and implement at least twenty new projects to make our streets safer for pedestrians.

Work with the San Francisco Unified School District to identify and build a new elementary school to serve the anticipated growth in population in District Seven.

Work collaboratively with merchants to create updated visions for two of our business corridors including Ocean Avenue and West Portal Avenue by working with the merchants and neighbors to update zoning codes.

Complete designs for the M-line to go underground along 19th Avenue.

Continue to dedicate funds to my participatory budgeting program to ensure District Seven residents have a real say on how the city spends its money.

Initiate hiring freeze on all non-public safety city departments to stop run-away expenses.

Reduce parking fines from a portion of the savings accrued from the hiring freeze.

Institute performance evaluation measures for all non-profits seeking city funding and require competitive bidding for businesses and nonprofits seeking city contracts.

Pass legislation to allow landlords and prospective tenants a six-month window to enter into three-year, fixed term rental agreements to get a portion of the 18,000 vacant units back onto the market to alleviate the housing crisis.

Broker a deal among all stakeholders to pilot a “tiny apartment” homeless housing solution — housing built with shipping containers, much like the one I lived in while serving in Afghanistan (a.k.a “CONNEX”).

Shift resources towards building more middle income housing (for 80 percent to 20 percent AMI households) — we have been failing the middle class, we need more middle class housing to encourage families to stay in San Francisco.